Land of Kings festival

After a successful inaugural event in 2009, the second annual Land of Kings festival parks itself lustily along the Kingsland Road on the 23rd of this month.

Intended as a celebration of Dalston’s rich and diverse cultural tapestry, it encompasses music, theatre, art and food, all spread liberally over several venues in the E8 and N16 area.

Layout wise, LOK manifests itself as a trail of bars/spaces from Stoke Newington to Shoreditch, centred primarily on the main road with some exceptions lurking either side.

The establishments themselves range from local staples Barden’s Boudoir and the Moustache bar, via galleries and restaurants and all the way to the intriguing ‘Dungeon of Discoveries’ (a disused WW2 bomb shelter in the bowels of the Dalston Kingsland Station). The programme looks both curious and varied, as you would expect from this kind of do.

Musically, many tastes should be catered for with a frankly stellar line up; Speakers Corner Quartet and the unusually monikered Hackney Colliery Band take care of the jazzier end of things, The Detachments and Yuck are among the live acts and late night boogie business comes courtesy of Tayo, Little Boots and Faze Action to name but a few.

Elsewhere, cabaret is provided by interactive company Gideon Reeling, theatre from the all girl trio Skip Theatre, UV lightshows by design collective Taktal and unorthodox, banquet style food from the Rebel Dining Society.

Late additions to the line up Gyratory System, described as ‘Kraftwerk soundtracking a Looney Tunes cartoon’ should also be worth a look.

Assuming a similar turn out to last year, expect in the region of two thousand revellers to be cavorting down Stoke Newington High Street, though the organisers are keen to emphasise that normal licensing laws apply and carrying drinks between venues is not permitted.

They also advise arriving early for more popular acts as the capacity of each location must be respected, as must their individual opening & closing times.

Despite this, the festival has a provisional running time of a respectable 7pm on Friday until a bleary eyed 4am Saturday morning.

With such a miscellany of entertainment on offer stretched over so many interesting spaces, Land of Kings is surely one of the more attractive city festivals.

The cheaper early bird tickets have already sold out, however advance tickets are still available at £12 (£15 on the door).

More information about Land of Kings.